Introduction

Discover more about the man who created Peter Pan, the children that inspired him and how Barrie's legacy lives on in Great Ormond Street Hospital.

J M Barrie gave all the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, and this was later confirmed when he died in 1937.

Since then the hospital has received royalties every time a production of the play is put on, as well as from the sale of Peter Pan books and other products.

Learn more about the history of the Peter Pan play and novel.

Barrie requested that the amount raised from Peter Pan should never be revealed, and the hospital has always honoured his wishes.

Although he and his wife were childless, Barrie loved children and had supported Great Ormond Street Hospital for many years.

In 1929 he was approached to sit on a committee to help buy some land so that the hospital could build a much needed new wing. Barrie declined to serve on the committee but said that he "hoped to find another way to help".

Two months later, the hospital board was stunned to learn that Sir James had handed over all his rights to Peter Pan.

So began the enduring link between the author and the children of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

On 14 December 1929, at Barrie’s suggestion, the cast of a London production of Peter Pan came to the hospital and they played out the nursery scene for the children, the first of a long tradition.

Peter Pan and memorials to J M Barrie can be found throughout the hospital, for example:

• A bronze statue of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell outside the hospital entrance.
• A plaque dedicated to Barrie in the hospital chapel (unveiled in 1938 by J B Priestley).
• Tinker Bell play area in Octav Botnar Wing.
• A tiled mural created and donated by the art students of the University of Wolverhampton.

Please note that the hospital is not a public place and some of the memorials are not accessible to the general public.